Revived Series Novelizations: The end of the World
by Josman
Summary: The Doctor takes Rose on her first trip through time and space in the TARDIS to the year five billion where many rich alien delegates have gathered on a space station called Platform One to watch the Sun expand and destroy the Earth, but one of these guests is plotting to profit from the event by killing them all.
1. Cocktail Party at the end of the Earth

**A/N: Continuing the revived series novelizations, we move on to The End of The World. This is an episode I havent seen as often as some of the others so adapting it may prove tricky. But that's all part of the fun of going through chronologically.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. (If I did, I would be writing actual cannon stuff.)**

* * *

**The End of the World**

_It's the end of the world as we know it._

_It's the end of the world as we know it._

_It's the end of the world as we know it._

_And I feel fine!_

REM

**Chapter 1: The Cocktail Party at the End of the Earth**

"So Rose." Said The Doctor. "Where do you want to go? It's your choice. Backwards or forwards in time?"

Rose was still trying to get her head around the sheer number of possibilities set out before her. "Dunno. Forwards."

The Doctor flicked two switches. "How far?"

"Er, 100 years."

"100 years it is." He spun a wheel, turned a dial and pulled a lever and the TARDIS roared into life. Seconds later, The Doctor pulled the lever back and the machine stopped with a bump. "There ya go. Step outside those doors now, it's the 22nd century."

"You are kidding."

"That's a bit boring though. D'ya want to go further."

"Fine by me."

The Doctor spun the wheel much longer than before. Turned the same dial and released the lever. The machine ground again, as The Doctor ran operated a device resembling a bike pump to boost the power. Once more, he brought the machine in for landing.

"We're now 10,000 years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12,005. The new Roman Empire."

Rose grinned. "You think you're so impressive."

"I am so impressive."

"You wish."

The Doctor responded with a misgevious look "Alright then. You asked for it." He spun the time damper even further than before, adjusted the orbit compensation and released the handbrake. As the TARDIS sailed through space and time, he pumped the turbo boost furiously. The machine was grinding much longer this time. The Doctor raced round to the far panel and flicked some switches to bring it in for landing.

"So where are we?" Said Rose.

The Doctor simply raised his arm in a see for yourself sort of way.

The room she stepped out into resembled something off of Grand Designs, everything was either pearly white or decked in polished wood. The small room was built on several levels, with steps leading down them. Though the architecture was not too impressive. Rose was still amazed to think that she had just stepped into a world millennia after she'd last been. A persistent hum informed her that she was in a vehicle of some kind.

The Doctor soniced open the window shutter, revealing a stunning view of the Earth 1000 km below them. Rose had seen photos of it before but they could never rival the real thing. She felt almost like some angelic figure, watching over the whole world.

"You lot." Said The Doctor. "You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're gona get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or a comet. You never stop to imagine the impossible. That maybe you survive.

This is the year 5.5/apple/26, 5 billion years in your future. And this is the day..." He looked at his watch. "Hold on..."

149,600,000 km away, and eight minutes in the past, the sun abruptly flared up like a candle sprinkled with sawdust. The bright light wafted over the time travellers, though the flare-proof glass kept them safe.

"This is the day that the sun expands." Said The Doctor. "Welcome to the end of the world."

* * *

"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking." Announced a neutral sounding voice on the tannoy. "Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth death is scheduled for 15:39. Followed by drinks in the Manchester suite."

Rose followed the Doctor down one of the spaceship's corridors. "When it says guests, does it mean people?"

"Depends what you mean by people." Said The Doctor. "They're aliens, mostly. Ah, much better view in here." He stopped at a set of double doors and soniced them open.

"And what are they doing on this ship?"

"It's not so much a ship as an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

"What for?"

"Fun." He led Rose through a massive auditorium, decked out in marble and fine art. The far wall and ceiling were given over to a massive viewing window, which made the one they'd first seen seem like a porthole by comparison. "Mind you, when I say the great and the good, I mean the rich."

"Hold on." Said Rose. "They did this on Blue Peter. The sun doesn't just expand in a day. It takes millions of years."

"The planet's now the property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there," he pointed out the window, "gravity satellites. Millions of them. Keeping the sun back."

"Why does the Earth look the same? I thought the continents shift over time?"

"They did. The National Trust shifted them back. But.. now the money's run out. Nature takes over."

"How long's it got?"

"About half an hour. Then the whole planet gets roasted."

"Is that why we're here? Is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save it."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. How best to explain this to her? He decided to dodge the question for the time being. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."

"But what about the people?"

"No one there. They've all left."

Rose stared down at the dead planet, her former home, scheduled for demolition. "Just me then."

"Who are you?" Said a voice. "And what are you doing here?" A blue skinned steward marched at them from a side door. "This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have arrived. They'll be here any second!"

The Doctor held up his wallet at them. "That's me, I'm a guest. See, I've got an invitation_ The Doctor plus one._ I'm The Doctor. This is Rose. She's my plus one. Is that alright?"

"Well obviously." Said the steward. "Apologies etc... If you're on board. We'd better start. Enjoy."

As the blue man went to the main door, The Doctor turned to Rose. "The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see."

Rose was looking dazed. "He's blue."

"Yeah."

"Ok." She shrugged.

The blue man had taken his place at a podium by the door. "All staff to their posts." He announced. A dozen or so blue men, shorter than the steward, filed in through the side doors and stood to attention in various positions around the room. "We have in attendance: The Doctor and Rose. And now might I introduce the next honoured guest. Representing the forest of Cheam, we have, trees. Namely Jade, Newt and Copper. There will be an exchange of gifts, representing peace. We will keep the room circulating please."

Three figures entered through the main door. They were humanoid but their skin was composed entirely of soft bark. Leaves and flowers were growing from their head in place of hair.

Next through the doors was a creature the steward identified as the Mox of Balboon it was a squat greyish blue creature, which rode around on a mobility seat due to its race's inability to walk in gravity over 0.5g.

He was followed by The Adherents of the Repeated Meme, from Financial Family 7. A small group of six foot tall creatures, covered head-to-toe in black cloaks. They had a very imposing look about them.

The guests kept coming. A couple of engineers who looked like giant rats walking on their hind legs. Some guests buried under spacesuits and glare protectors, but still wearing their formal wear over the top. Bird creatures, troll creatures, liquid creatures... Rose was beginning to feel very out of place, being the only non-alien there.

Jade, the tree lady stepped up to them, holding out a flowerpot, containing a single twig. "I bring you a gift of peace: A cutting of my grandfather."

"Thank you. I give you in return... " Said The Doctor, handing the pot to Rose. He patted his jacket down, realising that he probably should have thought of this beforehand. "Air from my lungs." He said finally and blew in her face.

Jade was not familiar with this custom but was skilled enough in diplomacy to improvise. "How... intimate."

"There's more where that came from." The Doctor said.

"...Our sponsor for this evening." Announced the host. "Please welcome: The Face of Boe." Two staff people wheeled in a glass tank the size of a small car. An enormous head was suspended in some sort of fluid, taking up most of the tank.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was approached by the Mox of Blaboon. "My felicitations upon this extraordinary habistance. I bring you the gift of bodily salvias." It said and spat on the two of them.

But The Doctor seemed pleased by this. He moved on to the next guests. "Ah The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." He gasped over them.

The leading cloaked form held up a large clawed hand. "The gift of peace in all good faith." It said in a mechanical voice and handed him a silvery plastic ball, which The Doctor merrily handed to Rose. You could never tell what was considered valuable in other cultures.

"Last but not least, our very special guest." Said the steward. "Ladies and gentlemen, trees and multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world. We call forth the last human. The lady Casandra O'Brien dot delta 17."

Had the man not said she was the last human, Rose would never have imagined that Cassandra could be. She was a paper-thin piece of skin, with eyes and mouth, suspended on a frame, which was wheeled in be two of her servants. With the backlighting, the guests could see all of her blood as it worked its way round her system.

"I know, I know. Don't stare. It's shocking isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over 2000." She said. "Moisturise me." A servant pulled out a spray gun and sprayed water over her. "My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic desert. They were born on the Earth and they were the last to be buried in its soil." She continued with a sob she was clearly putting on. "I have come to honour them. And say goodbye." A servant sprinkled some tears under her eyes. "But behold. I bring gifts. From Earth itself!" As she said this her servants opened up a large case they'd wheeled in. "The last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says, it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband?" She laughed. Some others smiled weakly.

"And here another relic. According to the archives, this was called an ipod." A staff member wheeled in a 1970s-style pub jukebox. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"

Someone pressed two buttons. A vinyl disk was lowered into position and _Tainted Love _by Soft Cell began to play.

As Rose stared around the guests, it finally hit her. She was lost in time. Not only was she surrounded by strangers but she was surrounded by creatures and worlds and cultures she could never begin to comprehend. The only familiar things in the room had long faded into legend, along with her home.

The Doctor, meanwhile was as unfazed as the rest of the guests and merrily danced to the music.

_Sometimes I feel,_

_I've got to, run away,_

_I've got to, get away..._

She took that message to heart and went to get some air.

The Doctor spotted her distress and decided she needed reassuring. Before he could reach the door, however, he was stopped by Jade, who promptly took a photo of him.

"Thank you." She said. "It's for my wall."

The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement and continued on. Jade looked down at the device. It wasn't a camera. It was a DNA scanner and could identify 15 quadrillion sentient species and their customs. It would take a while but she'd know how to behave next time she saw him.

The steward was stepping down from the podium. He was on his way back to the office to get some checks done when one of the Adherents of the Ascended Meme held out one of the plastic balls to him.

"A gift of peace in all good faith."

"Sorry, I'm just the steward."

"A gift of peace in all good faith."

The steward shrugged and took it. "Thank you, I suppose." He heard something rattling inside but thought nothing of it.


	2. Wanderers in the Fourth Dimension

**Chapter 2: Wanderers in the Fourth Dimension**

"Identify species." Jade said again, but her guide kept displaying the same result. "I have no time for games. Identify species! Where is he from?" The planet of origin flashed up, confirming there was no mistake. It was an impossibility but the computer had scanned correctly. That was certainly worth another meeting.

* * *

Rose had found a quieter room to stare out of the window. She set down the plastic ball and the flowerpot on the bench before crossing the room and leaning on the frame. The moment she turned her back, the ball opened up and a little robot, resembling a squashed, four legged, spider, scuttled out and away from her. All over the ship, the Adherents' gifts were springing to life in a similar way, and the guests were blissfully unaware.

Rose was certainly trying to blot out as many things related to this ship as possible. But even she couldn't ignore the sound of footsteps approaching behind her. She spun round to see a blue-skinned woman gazing at her.

"Sorry, am I allowed to be in here?" She asked.

The woman was silent for a moment. "You have to give us permission to talk." She said nervously.

"Erm... You... have permission."

The woman smiled. "Thank you. And er... No you're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."

"Ok." Rose's culture shock ebbed a bit, now she'd run into someone with a personality she could identify with. "What's your name?"

"Roffallo." The woman said as she unscrewed a grate on the wall.

"Roffallo?"

"Yes miss. I won't be long. I've just got to carry out some maintenance. There's a little glitch in the face of Boe's suite. Must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water."

"So you're a plumber?" Said Rose.

"I hope so. Or else I'm out of a job." Roffallo laughed.

"Where are you from?"

"Crispalion."

"That's a planet then is it?"

"No." Said Roffalo, straitening up for a moment. "Crispalio's part of the Jagger Bracade. Affiliated to the Scarlet Junction. Complex 56. And where are you from miss?.. If you don't mind me asking."

"No, not at all." Said Rose, though she realised that she couldn't go around saying she was from a council estate which, in all probability, was remembered alongside Pompeii. "It's hard to explain. A long way away. I just sort of... Hitched a lift with this man. Didn't even think about it. Don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger."

Roffalo stared for a moment, not sure if she was the right person to help with this woman right now.

"Anyway." Rose forcibly brightened herself. "Don't let me keep you, and er... Good luck with it."

"Thank you miss. And er... Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."

Rose nodded and went to find another quiet space.

Her day suitably brightened. Roffalo pulled open the cover of the maintenance tunnel. Crawling through these tunnels was about 70% of her job. But that was a lot of the reason why she'd applied for the job. It was only natural for someone who'd spent much of their childhood crawling through tunnels to find out where various tunnels went to seek employment doing that every day.

"Control," she said into her communicator, "I'm at junction 19. The fault appears to be coming from around here. I'm going in to have a closer look."

As she hauled herself in, she heard a metallic scuttling sound echoing down the passageway. Ahead of her, one of the spider robots rounded the corner. "Oh, who are you then?" The robot responded by hurrying round the corner out of sight.

"Hold on!" She called "If you're an upgrade I just need to register you!" The robot crept back into sight. "That's better." Another followed close on behind. "Ah so there's two of you." She got a feeling of unease as they scanned her with their red eyes. "I should probably report this how many are there of you?" As if in answer to her question, a small pack of them rounded the corner and swarmed towards her. Roffallo screamed and tried to shuffle backwards but she couldn't outrun the machines.

* * *

The steward sat down in his office and flicked on his computer. For the millionth time he groaned at the number of reports that would flood in when he was away from his desk. Starting with the simplest, he picked up the tannoy. "Would the owner of the blue box please report to the steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that the use of teleportation is strictly prohibited under treaty article 5/4/cup/16. Thank you."

He failed to notice the creature crawling out of the ball behind him.

* * *

_"Earth death in 25 minutes."_

"Oh thanks." Rose said to the nearest speaker. She picked up the twig in the pot and spoke to it. "Hello?" She said uncertainly. "My name's Rose. That's a... sort of plant. We might be related." She put the pot down. "I'm talking to a twig." She realised out loud, though a part of her mind hoped she hadn't hurt its feelings with that last remark.

"Oy," said a voice in the hall, "be careful with that, park it properly. No scratches." The Doctor had just returned from a meeting with the steward, in which a quick explanation about how the TARDIS didn't teleport had convinced him to move it to the parking bay.

He now resumed his search for Rose, trying the nearest door, which just happened to be the right one.

"So." He said. "What d'ya think?"

Rose forced a smile. "Great, it's great. Fine... Once you get past the slightly psychic paper."

The Doctor chuckled.

"They're just so alien!" Rose finally managed to say. "The aliens... are just so alien. You look at them... and they're alien!"

The Doctor lost his humorous look. "Good thing I didn't take you to the deep south."

"Where are you from?"

"All over the place." He said. Rose had been wrong when she'd thought the man had started to be more open. He'd only opened up enough to enlist her help fighting the Autons.

She changed topics. "They all speak English?"

The Doctor's smile returned. "No. You just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field. Gets inside your brain. Translates."

His companion's eyes widened in alarm. "It's inside my brain!"

"Well... in a good way."

"Your machine gets inside my head! It gets inside and changes my mind and you didn't even ask!"

He shrugged. "I didn't even think about it like that."

"No!" She shouted "You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the deep south! Who are you then Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you? If you're messing with my head I want to know a bit more about you!"

"I'm just The Doctor." He growled.

"From what planet?"

"Well it's not as if you know where it is!"

"Where are you from?"

"What does it matter?"

"Tell me who you are!"

"This is who I am!" He snapped. "Right here, right now! All that counts is here and now! And this is me!"

"Yeah, and I'm here too 'cos you brought me here, so just tell me!"

The Doctor stormed away from her and went to stand by the window.

_"Earth death in 20 minutes."_

"Alright." Rose said, in a reconciliatory way. "As my mate Cheyenne says. "Don't argue with the designated driver. I can't exactly order a taxi anyway." She held up her phone jokingly. "No signal. We're out of range, just a bit."

The Doctor softened once more. "Tell you what," he took her phone, "with a little bit of jiggery-pokery..."

"Is that a technical term?"

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery-pokery. What about you?"

"Nah. I failed hulabaloo."

"Ah shame." He removed the sim card and put in some smaller devive. Amazingly, she now had signal.

Rose quickly selected the first contact that came to mind. The one titled _Mum_.

When her mum answered, she had to take a few moments to breathe. "Mum?"

"Oh what is it? What have I done now?" Jackie said. "I've just put your clothes through the washing machine by the way. That red top's falling to bits. You should get your money back. Go on. There must be something. You never phone in the middle of the day."

Rose just laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. You alright though?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"What day is it there?" Rose asked.

"Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover or something?

"Yeah um... I was just calling because... I might be late home."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No. I'm fine." She looked at the Earth below. "Top of the world!"

"Ok. See you later." And that was the end of the call.

"You think that's amazing." Said The Doctor. "You want to see the bill!" There were entire sectors of time and space where phone companies had vast armies waiting for any sign of him.

Rose had a newly grim look about her. "That was 5 billion years ago. She'll be long dead now. 5 Billion years later. She's dead."

"Bundle of laughs, you are. Said The Doctor."

At this point, the steward's voice interrupted them over the tannoy."If guests would like to look just below the Earth. The planet Venus is entering its final moments."

* * *

Beyond the Earth a gargantuan mass of burning hydrogen was swelling outwards at a rate of almost 90,000 km/s. As it approached the planet Venus, the surface, already liquidated, began to vaporise. The sun gravity lifted it from the planet and a continuous stream strung out towards the growing star. As the internal pressure was slowly lifted, the iron core vaporised incredibly rapidly. The magma surface was blasted in all directions with a flash that could be seen from Platform 1.

Specially designed deflectors stopped anything hitting the space station. But as huge chunks of Venus flew past, the ship wobbled alarmingly.

"That's not supposed to happen." Said The Doctor.

* * *

"Well what was it?" The steward snapped at his computer. "I'm just getting green lights at this end." He picked up the tannoy and adopted a calm voice. "Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence. Thanking you." He turned back to his computer. "It wasn't small though! The whole place shook! I've hosted all sorts of events on platforms 1, 3, 6 and 15 and I've never felt the slightest tremor." He worried whether any of the guests would decide to sue.

He decided to scan the infrastructure and was further alarmed at what he saw. There were unfamiliar life readings all over the ship, which the computer could only say were small and metallic. He focused in on his position to try and identify the nearest and saw that it was two feet to his right. Through his glass desk top, he spotted a metallic spider robot crawling up the table leg and across the surface.

"You're not on the guest list." He said. "How did you get on board?"

The machine ignored him and scuttled up to the keyboard, where it pressed some buttons.

_"Sun filter deactivated." _Said the computer _"Sun filter descending."_

A blinding light flooded into the room, burning everything above a line an inch below the top of the window.

"NO!" He roared. "OVERRIDE! SUN FILTER UP! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

But the computer wasn't fast enough. Too much of its power was given over to compensating for the massive rise in temperature. By the time it got around to raising the filters, the steward had already fried.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose returned to the auditorium, where the Mox of Balboon was chatting to the Face of Boe about the bad wolf scenario. The Doctor strode past them and prodded at a nearby console. "That wasn't a gravity pocket." He said. "I know gravity pockets. Even if every rock on Venus had gone by, the compensators could easily handle it." At this point, he noticed that Jade was staring at him with a look akin to amazement. "The engines have pitched up about 30 Hz." He said to her. "Does that sound dodgy or what?"

"Er, it's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Where's the engine room?" He asked.

"I don't know. But the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite. I could show you... And your wife."

"She's not my wife." The Doctor said quickly.

"Partner?"

"Nope."

"Concubine? Prostitute?"

"Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind?" Rose snapped. "Tell you what. You two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with the family. Quick word with Michael Jackson over there." She said and wandered over to Cassandra.

"Don't go starting a fight." The Doctor said to her, before turning to Jade. "I'm all yours."

"And I want you home by midnight!" Rose called after him.

_"Earth death in 15 minutes."_

* * *

In a concrete tunnel, with cables lining the walls, a flock of about 20 spider-robots scattered as The Doctor stepped through the hatch. "Who's in charge of platform 1?" He said. "Is there, like, a captain?"

"Only the steward and some staff." Said Jade. "All else is controlled by the metal mind."

"The computer, you mean. And who controls that?"

"A corporation. They move Platform 1 from one significant event to the next."

"And there's no-one from the corporation on board?"

"They are not needed. Its operation is at the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."

"So it's unsinkable?"

"I believe the nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"I was on another ship once, said it was unsinkable. Ended up clinging to an iceberg. Wasn't half cold. So, the upshot is, if we get in trouble there's no-one to help us out."

"I'm afraid not."

"Fantastic."

"I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?"

* * *

**Author's notes: I don't claim to be an expert in what a planet being swallowed up by a star would look like.**

**Reviews are appreciated. It helps guide my writing styles.**


	3. Sabotage

**Chapter 3: Sabotage.**

As the sun drew closer, the earth was heating up, all the green areas on the continents were slowly turning yellow. The cloud cover was rapidly expanding as the oceans boiled. The guests on Platform 1 felt the temperature rising around them but assumed that this was to create atmosphere.

"Soon the Earth will perish, and my ancestral home will be gone." Cassandra pointed with her eyes. "That's where I used to live, down there, when I was a little boy. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevasse. Ahh, we had such fun."

Rose had been looking the skin woman up and down, wondering how she defined her gender anyway. She decided this was hardly the most pressing point at the moment. "What happened to everyone else? The human race. Where did they go?"

"They say mankind has torched every star in the sky."

"So you're not the last human?" That was comforting. The thought that evolution hadn't turned her race into paper thin creatures.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed. "I am the last pure human. The others... mingled. Oh, they call themselves new humans, proto-humans, digi-humans, even humanish. But you know what I call them? Mongrels."

Right, said Rose, who was liking this woman less and less. "and you stayed behind."

"I kept myself pure."

"How many operations have you had?

"708. Next week, its 709, I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word Rose. You could be flatter. You've got a bit of a... chin poking out."

Rose laughed, "I'd rather die."

"Honestly, it doesn't hurt."

"No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchey trampoline."

"Oh well, what do you know?"

"I was born on that world!" Rose shouted. "And so was my mum and so was my dad. And that makes me officially the last human being in this room. 'cos... You're not human! You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened 'till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin! You're just skin Cassandra! Lipstick and skin. Nice talking." And with that she stormed off.

She no longer sure where she wanted to be, she just wished to be away from everyone for a time. She failed to notice the Adherents of the Repeated Meme tailing her. Not until they whacked her over the head and she blacked out instantly.

* * *

"So tell me Jade." Said The Doctor. "What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?"

"Respect for the Earth."

"Oh come on. Everyone at this platform's worth zillions."

"Well... I suppose it's also having to be seen at the right occasions."

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. Got massive forests everywhere. Roots everywhere. And there's always money in land."

"All the same," she explained, "we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet and Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transported from the planet down below. I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest."

They'd reached the end of the passageway now. The Doctor stopped to examine a console on the wall.

Jade saw an opportunity to enquire about her earlier discovery. "And what about your ancestry, Doctor. Perhaps you could tell a story or two? Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing left?" The Doctor didn't respond. "I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying you. Refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from!" The Doctor stopped what he was doing briefly but didn't look up. "Forgive me for intruding but... It's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am."

The Doctor was silent for several moments. At the mention of his race, people usually responded with awe or fear or hatred or amazement. This was the first time he'd heard anyone express sympathy. Jade put a hand on his arm. The Doctor responded by putting a hand on hers. Then promptly returned to what he was doing. He found the right setting and the door came open.

They stepped out onto a platform at the side of an incredibly wide shaft, criss-crossed with catwalks. The walls lined with machinery. The shaft was so deep they couldn't see the bottom from where they were. Up and down it, huge turbine fans were spinning, cooling everything down.

"Is it just me or is it a bit nippy?" Said The Doctor. "Still though, very impressive. It's a great bit of air conditioning, sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro." He scanned a panel and pulled it open. "Gotcha."

A spider robot scuttled out and quickly fled up the wall.

"Is that creature part of the retro?" Said Jade."

"I don't think so." The Doctor aimed his sonic at it and made several attempts to bring it down but kept getting blocked by deadlocks. Jade shot a vine out from up her sleeve and caught it like a lasso.

The Doctor was impressed. "Nice trick."

"Thanks." She responded with a hint of embarrassment. "I'm not supposed to show them in public."

"I won't tell anyone." He promised. "Anyway... Who's been bringing their pets on board?"

"What does it do?"

"Sabotage. Release a bunch of these in the maintenance ducts, you control the ship. The question is, why?"

_"Earth death in ten minutes."_

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on."

* * *

"The planets end." Cassandra announced. "Come gather, come gather to mourn the passing of the cradle of civilisation. We shall pay tribute with this traditional ballad."

As it turned out, her idea of a traditional ballad was _Toxic_ by Britney Spears, a song playing throughout the corridors as The Doctor and Jade ran up to the steward's office. Smoke was billowing from around the door, chocking a group of staff people nearby.

"Hold on." He said, and ran his sonic over the door terminal.

_"Sun filter rising."_ Said the computer.

"Was the steward in there?" Jade asked nervously.

"You can smell him." Said The Doctor. Just then, he noticed something else on the console. "Hold on, there's another sun filter deactivating."

Rose had never been rendered unconscious before. The actual blow, she found was pretty painless. But coming to was agonising. Not just the pain but the disorientation. The whole room was spinning, making it very tempting to remain on the floor.

_"Sun filter descending."_

A sudden rise in light and heat snapped her to attention. She looked up to see everything above a certain plane swamped with intense heat. And it was moving down.

Hurriedly, she scrambled for the door. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. "LET ME OUT!" She screamed. "SOMEONE HELP!"

The Doctor raced through the corridors to the relevant room. Smoke was billowing from this one as well. "Anyone in there?"

"LET ME OUT!"

"Oh well it would be you."

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

He ran his sonic over the door console. "Hold on, just two ticks." Retasking a computer wasn't like unlocking a door. The machine was constantly thinking and adjusting itself, making the right combinations harder to find. Nonetheless, he found them.

_"Sun filter rising."_

The burning plane began to retreat upwards. Everything it had touched was black and scorched. Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Sun filter descending."_

"STOP MUCKING ABOUT!" She shouted.

"I'm not mucking about, the computer's getting clever. It's fighting back."

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

"I can't. The whole ship would burn."

As the plane descended, Rose had been moving down ahead of it, now it was less than a metre from the bottom of the door. She ran away and down some steps to the lowest point in the room, where she flattened herself against the floor. Though she knew that would only buy her a few seconds more life.

The Doctor pulled open the console and ran the sonic down some cables. Finally, he identified the circuit which was feeding commands to the sun filter and broke it. With it gone, he was free to command it at will.

_"Sun filter rising."_

As the burning light left the room, Rose leapt to her feet and hammered on the door once more.

"Whole thing's jammed." Said The Doctor. "I can't open it. Just stay there, I'll be back."

"Where am I gonna' go, Ipswich?"

* * *

_"Earth death in 5 minutes."_

Jade had been explaining The Doctor's discovery to the rest of the guests. "The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of platform 1."

"How is this possible?" Cassandra demanded. "Our rooms are protected by a level one security system. Moisturise me."

"Summon the steward." Said the Mox of Balboon.

"I'm afraid the steward is dead." Jade said solemnly.

The whole room gasped in alarm. Many spoke up with the same question. "Who killed him."

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe." Said Cassandra. "He invited us! Talk to the Face, talk to the Face!"

The Doctor, meanwhile, had been fiddling with some of the circuits on their captured robot. "Easy way of finding out." He said. "Someone brought their little pet on board. Let's send it back to the owner."

He released the robot, which scuttled along the floor, examining each guest in turn. It paused for a moment by Cassandra, but quickly seemed to dismiss the notion. It carried on until it found the Adherents of the Repeated Meme. and ran into their arms.

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." One of the Adherents swung at him but he grabbed the arm and ripped it out without even pausing in his speech. The arm had several cables trailing out of it. "A meme is just an idea. And that's all they are." He yanked out a cable in the arm and all the cloaked figures collapsed. "Remote controlled droids. Nice little cover for the real trouble maker." He nudged the spider robot with his foot. "Go on jimbo, go home."

The robot scuttled straight to Cassandra.

"Well, clearly, you've programmed that machine to come this way." She said. "Cover your own guilt."

"Some of the universe's greatest engineers in this room." The Doctor reminded her. "They can disprove that claim pretty quickly." Said The Doctor.

Cassandra sighed. It was a fair cop. "I bet you were the school swat and never got kissed." She turned to her servants. "At arms!" At that, her servants raised their spray guns to cover the crowd.

"What're you going to do, moisturise us?" The Doctor taunted.

"With acid. Oh, but you're too late anyway. The spiders have control of the mainframe. You all carried them as gifts, tax free past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face."

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation. With myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

The Doctor sighed. "5 billion years and it still comes down to money."

Do you think it's cheap looking like this. Flatness costs a fortune! I am the last human Doctor. Me! Not that... freaky little kid of yours. The infidel."

"Arrest her." Said the Mox of Balboon.

"Oh shut it pixie!" She shouted. "I still have my final option. You're just as useful dead. I have shares in your rival companies. They'll triple in value the moment you're gone. How did that old Earth song go? _Burn baby burn._"

"Then you'll burn with us." Jade mocked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Said Cassandra. "I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden. But I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate."

The spider robot exploded, blowing a small hole in the floor. Spiders all over the maintenance ducts quickly followed suit and the whole ship trembled.

"Deflector shields down with a planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Like my fifth husband. Sorry. You shouldn't mock the dying. Bye bye. Oh and believe track 11A is appropriate at this time. She and her servants faded as a remote teleport picked them up. Her dukebox, meanwhile, sprang to life once more.

_Ole ole, ole ole._

_Ole ole, ole ole_

_Feeling hot hot hot._

Alarms were sounding all over the ship.

_"Heat levels rising._" Said the computer._ "Safety systems down. Earth death in three minutes."_


	4. World's End

**Chapter 4: World's End**

"Reset the computer!" Several people were shouting. Even 5 billion years in the future, the most likely solution to a problem was to switch it off and on again.

"Only the steward would know how." Said Jade.

"No." Said The Doctor. "We can do it manually. Come with me." They ran from the room, turned back on the way to tell the others and told them to chill for a little while.

* * *

_"Earth death in two minutes."_

They made much quicker progress through the service passages now that they had a sense of urgency to them. They quickly broke into the emergency control level, somewhat higher in the shaft than the platform they'd been before.

The Doctor scanned a panel to find where the emergency shutdown switch was, and promptly rolled his eyes at what he saw. The catwalk it was at the far end of was intersected by three fans, so that anyone walking along it would have to step through the gaps in the blades. Not particularly helpful when the rocketing temperatures were causing the fans to spin at an alarming pace.

Biting back several comments about the absurdity of this design, he pulled a brake on the wall, which slowed the fans to a crawl. A second after he let go however, the air conditioning short-circuited and the fans returned to crazy speed.

Jade grabbed the lever herself and held it down. "Go!" She shouted.

The Doctor saw that the tree was gasping for air and practically leaning on the lever for support. The heat was already affecting her. "The heat's gonna' filter through this place!" He said.

"I know."

"Jade, you're made of wood."

Jade gasped "Then stop wasting time, Time Lord."

_"Heat levels critical."_

There was no time to argue. The Doctor rushed up to the first fan. Even with the brake applied, they were still going much faster than he'd have liked and it took a great deal of courage, as well as timing, to step through.

* * *

_"Shields malfunction"_

The guests in the main chamber looked in horror as cracks began to appear in the solar shielding, they each dodged around in panic to avoid the narrow shafts of burning light which shot across the room. But this could be auto repaired. The far greater danger came from the asteroids, which were drifting in past the deflector limits. For now, any that hit the ship were small enough that the damage could be contained behind airtight-emergency doors. But the moment Earth went up, they would be flooded with millions of tons of its remains.

* * *

The fans were getting faster, making the gaps harder to find. The Doctor made a note to have a less-than-polite word with the engineers at some point. Though, he supposed that this situation had never occurred to them. Finally, he found the right moment and stepped through.

Jade was clinging on to the lever with all her strength, but her vision was blurring and tree sap was seeping from all over her body.

Finally, and inevitably, the heat became too intense and her arm burst into flame. She screamed in agony as she fell away from the lever.

The Doctor heard her screaming, but could do nothing to help, not with two fan wheels between him and her. What's more, he still had a third to get through ahead. But, with the brake gone, the fan blades were accelerating to the point where he could barely make out their outline. Much less judge when to step.

* * *

Rose huddled herself in the corner. There was more of the room flooded now that not and she felt like some magician's assistant, stuck in a box dodging swords. Except with the added bonus of chocking smoke and the smell of burning plastic everywhere.

Had anyone looked out, they would have seen the Earth's atmosphere trailing in a multicoloured cloud towards the sun, soon joined by the lighter surface materials as they boiled over. the pressure was lifting, and the intense heat was spreading deeper.

* * *

_"Earth death in 10... 9..."_

The final fan was now spinning like the drum of a washing machine. The Doctor knew that he'd have a roughly 50:50 chance to make it through, but survival instinct was screaming at him not to do it.

_"8... 7..."_

He closed his eyes. He thought of all those guests and the lives they had. He thought of his companion, who was only on her first trip. He thought of all those lives he'd been unable to save that day, not long ago. How he'd vowed to make amends. Well now was the time!

_"... 6... 5..."_

He took a deep breath and stepped forward. Hearing the computer announce _"...4..."_ without getting smashed confirmed that he'd made it. He flung himself forward and pulled the emergency override shouting "RECHARGE SHIELDS!"

* * *

Asia and Europe had long melted into the mantle, Africa was gone now and the Americas, on the side facing away from the sun were a glowing orange. Meanwhile, the sun was boring through on the far side. Finally, the iron core vaporised and the mantle was blasted in all directions. Planet Earth was no more.

An unimaginable mass of rock was hurled at the ship but the deflector shields just managed to get up in time to stop it hitting. Though the damage the ship had already sustained left them in a weakened state. The whole platform to rock like an earthquake as the chunks deflected.

The guests in the main chamber saw the burning streams begin to ebb and retreat, meanwhile, the temperature was dropping. The crisis was over. It was too late for some though. The Mox of Balboon, for instance, had boiled the moment one of the beams hit him.

_"Exoglass repaired."_

* * *

The fans had slowed down now and The Doctor could march casually through them. Despite having saved the ship, the victory felt hollow with Jade having been lost. All he found of her was a pile of ash in a scorched dress. People willing to do things like this so casually had to be dealt with.

* * *

Rose returned to the main hall, to a scene of utter carnage. Most of the walls and the floors were scorched black and everyone who was still mobile was tending to the dead and injured.

The Doctor marched in after her, with a look of purpose on his face. He stepped past Rose and had a quick solemn word with the two surviving trees before returning to her.

"You alright?" She said.

"Yeah." He growled. "I'm full of ideas, me. Bristling with them. Idea 1: Anyone who can beam through 5 million degrees must have some kind of relay point. Idea 2: That point must be nearby." He snatched the ostrich egg off a plinth and smashed it, revealing a small device. "Idea 3: If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."

He pressed some buttons. There was a bright light and Cassandra appeared, in mid sentence. "... oh you should have seen them. The little alien faces."

"The last human." The Doctor said, with pure disgust.

"Oh... er. You've passed my test! This makes you eligable to join the er er er... human club!" She said awkwardly.

"People have died Cassandra!" He shouted.

She scowled "It depends on your definition of "people", and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor! Watch me smile and cry, and flutter..."

"And creak?"

"And what?"

"And creak. You're creaking."

She was indeed creaking. Pale, stretched patches were appearing on her skin."

"I'm drying out!" She gasped. "Moisturise me. Moisturise me!. Where are my servants? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor said coldly.

"HAVE PITY!" She groaned. "MOISTURISE ME!"

"Help her." Rose said.

The Doctor didn't even flinch. "Everything has its time and everything dies."

Cassandra's drying skin was becoming noticeably stretched. "I'M. TOO. YOUNG." She groaned, before the stretching became too much and she split like a burst balloon, with pieces of her flying everywhere.

* * *

_"Shuttles 4 and 6 now departing. The platform is closed for maintenance."_

The guests and the staff had evacuated the platform. They would be fine for the large part, traumatised and singed, but better off than their late colegues.

Rose was the last to leave the auditorium. She stood by the huge window, staring at the remains of her world, swirling outside. She didn't even look as The Doctor returned from seeing the others off.

"The end of the Earth." She said. "It's gone. And no-one saw it 'cos we were too busy saving ourselves. All those years. All that history. And no-one even saw it go. It's just..." She couldn't bring herself to finish.

The Doctor took her hand. "Come with me." He said and gently led her back to the TARDIS.

* * *

The street they'd landed in was not particularly remarkable. No famous buildings or people or events. But at the same time, Rose looked at the life around her with a newfound sense of perspective. Families were out shopping. Friends were drinking outside pubs. A man was selling the big issue. None ever considering how lucky they were to be there.

"You think It'll last forever." Said The Doctor. "People and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's gone. Even the sky." He was silent for a long time. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust."

"What happened to it?" Said Rose.

"There was a war and we lost."

"A war with who?"

The Doctor avoided the question.

"What about your people?" Rose asked instead.

"They're all gone. I'm, a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no-one else."

"There's me." Rose offered.

The Doctor thought for a moment. You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"

Rose wasn't sure what to say. With what he'd just told her, he seemed so much more... human, if that was the term. She couldn't just leave him to march off alone again. But then she wasn't sure if she could cope with another adventure like the last.

Just then a wonderful smell came to her nostrils. "Oh, can you smell chips."

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah."

"I want chips. Really badly."

"You know what, so do I."

Suddenly, the dangers and culture shock didn't seem so hard. She had someone with her whom she could finally talk to on a reasonable level. A friend who could guide her along. Now that she wasn't isolated, travel in time and space would be fun again. And she had the feeling that The Doctor was thinking the same thing.

"Right then." She said. "Before I get back in that box, we're getting some chips. And you can pay."

"I've got no money."

"Tight wad. Alright then, chips are on me. Come on. We've only got 5 billion years 'till the shops close!"

**Next Time: The Unquiet Dead.**


End file.
